Good blog! (worlcupblog.com)
Hello all, I am actually a new blogger on this site. All of you should be familiar with Duvel?s writing, but I am his younger brother Chris. I recently wrote the recap on the Zimbabwe game and I am very excited to be a consistent blogger now. Hopefully my writing lives up to all of your standards
. I look forward to reading your comments and sharing our passion for the Brazilian team together.
Well the knockout stage is here and I would like to make a brief comment on how I think the officiating has been. To put it short. Disgraceful.
Now keep in mind that I do live in the United States, so I might be a little biased, especially after the officials took another goal away from the US earlier in the week (Clint Dempsey was absolutely not offside). However, I am going to try and put what I?ve seen so far into perspective.
Firstly, many coaches have had grievances with the officiating in this tournament so far. Maradona was particularly upset with the officiating after the Greece match, but then again Maradona is a little crazy.
Bob Bradley?s team had a win stolen from them versus Slovenia. We all watched the Brazil-Ivory Coast match and we know how poorly everything was handled in that game, from the Fabiano handballs to Kaka?s red card, and Keita?s disgraceful dive. Dunga and Sven had a right to be very upset after the match.
12 Red Cards have been given out so far in the World Cup and that is far too many for my liking. On one occasion there was a red card given out in every match of the day. The officiating has just not been up to par with the prestige of a tournament such as this.
Simply put, officials are single handedly deciding the outcome of some matches and that?s not how it should be. It?s not fair to the players, coaches, or fans. I know human error is a part of the game but I am pleading with the officials to keep the whistles down when necessary and let these players do their thing.
In my opinion, a penalty should only be given if there is a clear scoring chance or incident in the box that a player spoils. After watching the penalty given in the Italy-New Zealand game I was absolutely not convinced that?s a proper call. New Zealand has been screwed twice in my opinion?Slovakia?s goal was offside.
I think that a red card should only be given if there is clear intent or it is a very dangerous tackle, and you all know the kind of tackle that I am talking about. (Hmm Ryan Shawcross? tackle on Aaron Ramsey ring a bell?) Tim Cahill?s challenge late in the game versus Germany on Day 4 did not fall under these qualifications and cost Australia their best player in a must win situation.
The officials once again had a large impact on the games today with two missed calls. Germany ended up beating England 4-1, but not before the officials stole a goal from England. With the score at 2-1, Frank Lampard?s audacious chip seemed to have beat the goalie and crossed the line by about a yard. However, the officials however missed it and Germany went on to dominate the rest of the match.
I really believe a 2-2 score line would have completely changed the complexion of how that game was played. Just a shame. A clear goal taken away unfairly.
Lastly, Maradona and Co. received a little bit of help from the officials in the last match of today. The game opened up quite nicely in the beginning with Mexico looking more likely to score first. That?s when Carlos Tevez made a dangerous run in the box which found its way to Messi who chipped over the defense back to Tevez who was at least 2 yards offside. Tevez left no doubt and the tide of the game completely changed. Mexico never found their feet after that.
With two huge blunders in the Round of 16 you have to wonder how much more the officials are going to mess up this tournament. For the sake of all of us, FIFA needs to step up their efforts in this area.
Lastly, the overall quality of the officiating just needs to get better going into a World Cup. For the U.S. to have two goals, in two matches disallowed that almost cost them the opportunity to advance out of their group is just ridiculous. Had they not advanced they would have had every right to feel cheated by the officials. Even the yellow cards have been a little harsh for them but in the end they finished top of their group so the complaints went down.
I?m not sure what the solution is, whether it just be increasing the qualifications of being a World Cup official as far as experience goes (Yes, Koman Coulibaly you would not qualify), or just increasing the number of officials that take part in the match, something needs to be done.
I know this issue comes up frequently at the World Cup, but I think we?re at a breaking point. FIFA needs to do better?don?t ruin this tournament. Let me know what you all think, if you disagree with me or if you have any solutions.
Match Officials? Grade: F
Hello all, I am actually a new blogger on this site. All of you should be familiar with Duvel?s writing, but I am his younger brother Chris. I recently wrote the recap on the Zimbabwe game and I am very excited to be a consistent blogger now. Hopefully my writing lives up to all of your standards
. I look forward to reading your comments and sharing our passion for the Brazilian team together.Well the knockout stage is here and I would like to make a brief comment on how I think the officiating has been. To put it short. Disgraceful.
Now keep in mind that I do live in the United States, so I might be a little biased, especially after the officials took another goal away from the US earlier in the week (Clint Dempsey was absolutely not offside). However, I am going to try and put what I?ve seen so far into perspective.
Firstly, many coaches have had grievances with the officiating in this tournament so far. Maradona was particularly upset with the officiating after the Greece match, but then again Maradona is a little crazy.
Bob Bradley?s team had a win stolen from them versus Slovenia. We all watched the Brazil-Ivory Coast match and we know how poorly everything was handled in that game, from the Fabiano handballs to Kaka?s red card, and Keita?s disgraceful dive. Dunga and Sven had a right to be very upset after the match.
12 Red Cards have been given out so far in the World Cup and that is far too many for my liking. On one occasion there was a red card given out in every match of the day. The officiating has just not been up to par with the prestige of a tournament such as this.
Simply put, officials are single handedly deciding the outcome of some matches and that?s not how it should be. It?s not fair to the players, coaches, or fans. I know human error is a part of the game but I am pleading with the officials to keep the whistles down when necessary and let these players do their thing.
In my opinion, a penalty should only be given if there is a clear scoring chance or incident in the box that a player spoils. After watching the penalty given in the Italy-New Zealand game I was absolutely not convinced that?s a proper call. New Zealand has been screwed twice in my opinion?Slovakia?s goal was offside.
I think that a red card should only be given if there is clear intent or it is a very dangerous tackle, and you all know the kind of tackle that I am talking about. (Hmm Ryan Shawcross? tackle on Aaron Ramsey ring a bell?) Tim Cahill?s challenge late in the game versus Germany on Day 4 did not fall under these qualifications and cost Australia their best player in a must win situation.
The officials once again had a large impact on the games today with two missed calls. Germany ended up beating England 4-1, but not before the officials stole a goal from England. With the score at 2-1, Frank Lampard?s audacious chip seemed to have beat the goalie and crossed the line by about a yard. However, the officials however missed it and Germany went on to dominate the rest of the match.
I really believe a 2-2 score line would have completely changed the complexion of how that game was played. Just a shame. A clear goal taken away unfairly.
Lastly, Maradona and Co. received a little bit of help from the officials in the last match of today. The game opened up quite nicely in the beginning with Mexico looking more likely to score first. That?s when Carlos Tevez made a dangerous run in the box which found its way to Messi who chipped over the defense back to Tevez who was at least 2 yards offside. Tevez left no doubt and the tide of the game completely changed. Mexico never found their feet after that.
With two huge blunders in the Round of 16 you have to wonder how much more the officials are going to mess up this tournament. For the sake of all of us, FIFA needs to step up their efforts in this area.
Lastly, the overall quality of the officiating just needs to get better going into a World Cup. For the U.S. to have two goals, in two matches disallowed that almost cost them the opportunity to advance out of their group is just ridiculous. Had they not advanced they would have had every right to feel cheated by the officials. Even the yellow cards have been a little harsh for them but in the end they finished top of their group so the complaints went down.
I?m not sure what the solution is, whether it just be increasing the qualifications of being a World Cup official as far as experience goes (Yes, Koman Coulibaly you would not qualify), or just increasing the number of officials that take part in the match, something needs to be done.
I know this issue comes up frequently at the World Cup, but I think we?re at a breaking point. FIFA needs to do better?don?t ruin this tournament. Let me know what you all think, if you disagree with me or if you have any solutions.
Match Officials? Grade: F
